The anonymity of the internet can lead people to share things that they would never tell a stranger in real life. Geolocation, a photo series by Nathan Larson and Marni Shindelman that we spotted on Utne Reader, peels away one layer of the mystery; using publicly available embedded geotag information in Twitter updates, they track and photograph the exact location where tweets were sent.
“We think of these photos as historical monuments to small, lived moments,” Larson told Urbanite Magazine. “It also grounds the virtual reality of social networking data streams to the physical world, while examining how the nature of one’s physical space may influence online presence.” Click through to check out a few of the resulting images inspired by tweets that run the gamut from hilarious to devastating.
Geolocation (Anything is Something), Digital C Print, 30″ x 22″, 2009. Photo courtesy of Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman.
Geolocation (OKBye), Digital C Print, 30″ x 22″, 2009. Photo courtesy of Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman.
Geolocation (Sneaking Suspicion), Digital C Print, 30″ x 22″, 2009. Photo courtesy of Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman.
Geolocation (Swine Flu), Digital C Print, 30″ x 22″, 2009. Photo courtesy of Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman.
Geolocation (Location Thing for Twitter), Digital C Print, 30″ x 22″, 2009. Photo courtesy of Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman.
Geolocation (Days Like Today), Digital C Print, 30″ x 22″, 2009. Photo courtesy of Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman.
Geolocation (Kissed While Sick), Digital C Print, 30″ x 22″, 2009. Photo courtesy of Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman.
Geolocation (Amy is Dying), Digital C Print, 30″ x 22″, 2009. Photo courtesy of Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman.
Geolocation (Bada Bing), Digital C Print, 30″ x 22″, 2009. Photo courtesy of Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman.
Geolocation (Boss on Facebook), Digital C Print, 30″ x 22″, 2009. Photo courtesy of Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman.